Buchholzkopf and Roches Trail

A beautiful circular tour, with not so many meters of elevation, few steep climbs, great views and historical highlights. We start at the train station in Luetzelbourg. Right at the front car park, a narrow, almost overgrown but signposted path leads up to the Luetzelbourg castle ruins, which we reach after about 15 minutes. On a flat mountain spur stands an extremely large castle complex with 3 keeps and a fairly well-preserved manor house and offers a fantastic view of the Zorn valley and the Marne-Rhine canal. From the castle ruins, the route continues slightly uphill on a narrow path into the forest. We keep left and follow the "blue circle" sign until we reach the Rocher du petit Moulin on soft paths, which again offers us a beautiful view of the valley. To the right of the viewpoint, a steep steel staircase leads down through the rocks. At the foot of the rock, the path (blue circle) leads us back up to the right until we reach a forest path. Here we keep left and continue to follow the blue circle sign. The path that leads us down to the valley floor is not marked on the map, but the markings are easy to follow. At the bottom of the valley we cross the road, over a small bridge over the Zorn, which lies just behind it, and walk, turning left, along the dyke to the center of Luetzelbourg, past several locks. In front of the church in Luetzelbourg we cross the canal side over an old stone bridge and continue walking to the end of the village. Here we leave the canal and follow the Sentier du Rocher, which initially climbs slightly, past the Grotte de Lourdes, to a beautiful viewpoint. From there we continue on a beautiful, soft, narrow path that, after several hundred steep steps, leads us into a valley. At the foot of mighty, partially overhanging rocks we follow the path until we leave the valley again via a steep staircase and after just under a kilometer we reach the Rocher de Buchholzkopf. Here we have another beautiful view over the valley and the canal. From the lookout point we continue downhill until we reach the old lock 13, which is no longer in use. Due to the boat lift, which was built in the 1960s, some of the locks were no longer needed and are now in disrepair. We pass the lock, go under a dam, then cross the Zorn again on a narrow footbridge and climb up a narrow path until we reach a narrow passage on the right that leads under the canal. We go under the canal on this narrow and dark passage and continue climbing at the other end until we reach the road. Here we turn left and walk downhill on the almost deserted road, past the boat lift below us and further down until we reach the Cristallerie LEHRER B. Here we have to turn right and walk almost 300 m along the busier road here until we can leave the road again on the left. We now continue uphill on a little-used forest path for about 300 m until we turn sharply to the left. The narrow path leads above the road back to Luetzelbourg, where we cross the road again halfway and walk back along the canal to the starting point.

The Saint-Louis/Arzviller boat lift is part of the Rhine-Marne Canal. It has been in operation since 1969 and, with a height difference of 44.55 m, replaces 17 previous locks between Saint-Louis/Arzviller in Lorraine and the Zorn Valley.

A fantastic conclusion to my trilogy in the Northern Vosges. Today, water was my constant companion. In the form of numerous streams, waterfalls, in the Rhine-Marne Canal, and even as rain falling from the sky. The hike begins on a flat surface along the canal to the impressive boat lift. Return to Lutzelbourg through stunning nature via the rocky path. Finally, I climb up again to the remains of the castle. It's impressive how large the castle complex must have once been. The Vosges are wonderful for hiking. Comparable to the Black Forest, but the French also have incredible pastries (which I enjoyed later in Saverne). I'll be back! https://www.komoot.com/de-de/collection/3444315/-nordvogesen